Ms Josephine Feehily:

Usually, I find that local knowledge informs people's assessment of their property's value. The minimum tax amount is €45 this year and €90 for a full year in the bottom band. Therefore, that is what would apply to a property that had a very low market value because of extraneous issues. People are entitled to assess the tax themselves at a very low value and pay that low amount. I do not want to say to people that if their house has been flooded, its value is very low or that if it has not been flooded, it has a high value. They must make their own judgment. That is the essence of self-assessment. I am simply saying it is reasonable, in making that self-assessment, to take account of location factors and whether there is a market for the house. It is perfectly reasonable to reach quite a low value in that self-assessment. What is important is that if we come to challenge the assessment in due course that that self-assessment be reasonable. As I said to Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, our challenges will start where there is a wide margin between the norms for the area and the value in a particular case. If we come to challenge an assessment figure, the only question we will ask is whether the assessment was honestly and reasonably made because the presumption of honesty will apply.